EAT YOUR BELIEFS!

If you are in my circle of friends, then you've probably heard me talk about The Omnivores Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. This is an amazing book that is all about the anatomy of a meal, whether it be from a Supermarket, a "Big" Organic market (i.e. Whole Foods), Sustainable Markets (local farms and food Co-ops) and the Hunted/Gathered meal. It is a phenomenally interesting read and I highly recommend it to everyone.

I've already mailed a copy to my father, who, by the way, is ahead of the curve by growing his own fruits and vegetables in his garden and raising free-range, worm-eating, grass-pecking, happy, little, chickens for their delicious eggs. Incidentally, they do not eat the chickens because they are my mom's pets and that sort of thing is NOT allowed. ;)

Tim and I first read this book last year and although we were already planning to do what we could about shrinking our eco-footprint, through reading this book we realized that there was much more to be done in terms of what we consume on a daily basis. Gas, (which we have managed to limit to about a tank a month now that I'm not commuting on a daily basis.) Energy, and Food are the immediate things we are trying to affect.

I have done a lot of research about our local area and we have been hitting up our local farmers markets for our weekly produce and sometimes even meats every Saturday and Sunday. I shop for other things at the regular supermarket but I am making a huge effort to limit consumption of landfill items. Our building doesn't do recycling but it has occurred to us that if we sort out our recycling, the bums that frequent our alley will pick that stuff up and turn it in. Curbside service! What a symbiosis! ;)
We also discovered just this past week that both of us were using a face wash that has tiny little exfoliants that are made from polymers. These things are washing down the drain every day and ending up in the water. It can make you crazy thinking about all the ways in which we are failing the environment every day. That being said, my dad put it to me this way once; You can only do the best with what you've been given. If you make the right choice as often as you can, then you can feel good knowing that you're doing more than most people.

Hence the spreading of this knowledge. I am trying to share my desire with everyone I know, and I realize this is a relatively un-funny, slightly boring post (so if you've read this far, I thank you) but I can say that making the extra effort to find and serve locally grown organic foods makes our day to day lives WAY more interesting.

Using things in season creatively requires research. Riding our bikes across town to find organic local mushrooms (instead of going just down the street for organic ones that are flown in from California) may not seem like fun, but actually it was a gorgeous day and we both relished the idea that we were spending our own energy to do the right thing. (If this was the South Park show, this is the part where we'd sniff our own farts and pat each other on the back saying "Good for yeeeewwww!")

Long story short, I've done some searching for ways to help our local organic farms. I have a few links that might be helpful to anyone reading this who is interested in getting involved:

http://www.eatwellguide.org/
This will help you find all the local farms, restaurants, and markets who sell organic produce.

http://www.localharvest.org/
This is also a great site to connect with local farmers and markets.

So, see if your friends want to go in a locally grown side of beef, or buy a share in a local farm...

Oh and don't forget to read The Omnivores Dilemma, it explains this whole picture far more eloquently then I ever could.

Thanks for listening,
~erin